The birthplace of Wessex is actually two character areas in one, with the Upper Thames Clay Vales completely enclosing the Midvale Ridge. The latter is a limestone ridge stretching from Swindon to just outside Aylesbury. It is a mostly rural area, drained by small streams that drain into the rivers Thames, Thame and Ock, though the expansion of Swindon and Oxford threatens this rural character.
Surrounding it are the Oxford Clay Vales, whose impermeable clay soils give rise to flood plains and wetlands, in contrast to the permeable limestone of the Midvale Ridge and the neighbouring Cotswolds. The land is largely unsuitable for crop growing, making it a classic “chalk and cheese” disparity.
It was in the area around Dorchester-on-Thames that the kingdom later known as Wessex began to form. The area boasts one of the densest concentration of Anglo-Saxon archaeological finds in England, and is the subject of an ongoing investigation by a team of archaeologists from the University of Oxford.
There has been an encouraging increase in woodland in the area, however, an invasive population of poplar trees is proving a threat to native tree species.
Climate change threatens an increase in flooding in the clay vales. As with so many other places.it is up to all of us to do our part in preventing this.
